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Mavis the Quarry Diesel
*Adaptation by Jacobacranmer |previous= Duck and Donald |next= James and the Bees }} Mavis the Quarry Diesel is the eighteenth episode of the Engine Friends miniseries. Plot Mavis is a young diesel engine who works in the quarry at the end of the branch line, where she shunts trucks and puts them in their proper place. She has sideplates like Toby to help prevent accidents on the line, but she is quite inexperienced and has her own ideas on how to do things; ideas she is very keen to implement. As a result, she puts the trucks in different positions every day making things hard for Toby, who tells Mavis off for this. Mavis, however, thinks Toby is just being fussy and boring and continues to do things her way until eventually Toby gives up and tells her she can take her own trucks to the station. Mavis is very pleased with this, as taking trucks makes her feel important. Later, Diesel oils up to Mavis, who complains about Toby. Diesel sees a chance to cause trouble and tells Mavis that diesels are naturally better than steam engines before leaving. Mavis takes his words to heart, not realising that Diesel knew nothing about trucks. The line Toby uses crosses a main road behind the station before reaching a farm lane. Here, there is a dip in the line which can be very difficult to ride across in frosty weather. Toby had found a solution to this; after the fireman stopped the traffic on the road, Toby took a run at the dip and used the weight of the trucks to carry him across without trouble. Not only is it the easiest way, but it is also the only safe way to travel the lane. Toby tells Mavis about the farm lane and how to cross it, but Mavis thinks that Toby is just being fussy and ignores his advice. Later, Mavis begins taking the trucks to the station not realising that the trucks, who were tired of being bumped around, planned to make her day difficult. Mavis reaches the farm lane, however, instead of stopping before the dip, she stops just before the road. All the traffic is halted and Mavis, who believes she has got one over on Toby, tries to leave. But the trucks take advantage of her mistake and hold back. Mavis is unable to move despite her best attempts, leaving the trucks to laugh at her mistake. Mavis' crew tries to dig away the frozen mud, but to no avail. Mavis is stuck, blocking the crossing, and making everyone who is caught in the resulting traffic jam cross. Back at the yard, Toby is angry when he is told what has happened. Toby's driver tries to calm him down, reminding him that Mavis is young and needs to learn. Toby is not interested and is willing to let her manage the trucks herself. The driver reminds Toby that they are actually his trucks and Mavis is technically not allowed to leave the yard. Knowing that he will get in trouble with the Fat Controller, Toby decides to go and help after all. Back at the lane, Mavis is facing the anger of a farmer when Toby arrives to help. After a lot of pushing, Toby finally starts to move Mavis and the trucks back across the lane. This makes Toby's fire burn fiercely and his fireman uses the ashes to melt the frozen mud. Finally Toby and Mavis wind up at the beginning of the lane and Toby wishes Mavis goodbye and leaves. Humiliated, Mavis takes the trucks to the shed, and quickly heads back home to the quarry. One day at the quarry, Percy arrives to pick up stone for his trucks. Everywhere is still covered with snow and frost and the only engine in the quarry at the moment is Mavis who is sheltering between rocks looking miserable. Percy tells the young diesel to cheer up, but she explains that her manager found out about her going down Toby's line and causing trouble and has confined her to the quarry. She calls Toby a fusspot again, angering Percy who tells her that Toby knows a lot about trucks and that they must be left where he wants them. Percy then leaves to take his trucks to the harbour. Although Mavis likes Percy, she still does not understand why she cannot go down the line. The siding arrangements at the quarry are very awkward and Mavis is forced to make several journeys to put the trucks in the correct place. Mavis is desperate to leave the quarry and makes a plan. She starts by telling her driver the work would be a lot easier if she could use a small part of Toby's line. Her driver, suspecting nothing, agrees and allows her to go as far as the first level crossing. The weather changes, with the snow and ice melting away. This causes an increase in work and Mavis takes trains that can be so long that she has to go beyond the level crossing. She decides to go ahead with her plan to go further down the line without making it look like her fault and asks the trucks to bump her at the level crossing. The trucks agree; however, things go wrong when Toby arrives while she is gone and decides to shunt them himself. The trucks decide to bump Toby instead and when Toby reaches the level crossing the trucks push him down the line. Melted ice and snow had caused the river on Toby's line to become a torrent and it washes away a crumbling wooden bridge after a log collides with it but leaves the rails behind which form a tightrope across the abyss. Toby's driver fights for control and by the time Toby is finally able to stop, he is on the "tightrope" precariously above the water, ready to fall any second as more pieces of the bridge crumble into the torrent. When Mavis hears what has happened she is horrified and immediately goes to help. Toby is anchored to some rocks with chains as Mavis takes away the trucks. Eventually she is able to pull Toby to safety and later apologises about what happened with the trucks. Toby thanks Mavis, telling her that he does not fancy walking any tightropes again. The Fat Controller sees Mavis later and congratulates her for doing well in an emergency. Mavis admits she was responsible for the trucks' behaviour but asks if she can still use Toby's line as Toby has offered to show her what to do. The Fat Controller agrees on the condition Mavis' manager allows her to, which he does. Mavis is now happier than ever and is considered to be a really useful engine. Characters * * * Diesel * Mavis * Sir Topham Hatt * Terence * Bertie Locations * Anopha Quarry * The Quarry Tramroad * Tidmouth Hault * Ffarquhar River Bridge * Knapford Harbour Trivia *This episode is based on the third season episodes Mavis and Toby's Tightrope and likewise the Railway Series stories of the same names . Category:Episodes Category:Jacobacranmer's Episodes Category:Stories From Sodor Category:Engine Friends Category:Miniseries Episodes Category:Episodes About Mavis